I is Another
by Moonlight Shining
Summary: What happens when a difficult channeling gets completely out of hand? Well, you can end up with a murder or two on your careless hands, or some impersonations perhaps... Or like Maya and Franziska with an even more bizarre phenomenon!
1. Of Sane Mind and Sound Body

**-Chapter 1: ****Of Sane Mind and Sound Body-**

How could this have happened? An utter and complete non-sense.

"I know I shouldn't have trusted you, Maya Fey. Spirit channeling… Only a foolhardy fool would foolishly indulge in such a foolish practice!"

Franziska paced around the room a few more times before coming at a stop in front of the other occupant of the channeling chamber. She glared at the purple-clad acolyte. Normally, she would have easily towered above the petite spirit medium, but for now on, she was the small one.

"I, Franziska von Karma, am ordering you to undo this at once!" She snapped, in an attempt to sound like her usually scary self.

Unfortunately, the words, when pronounced with Maya's singsong voice, didn't ring nearly as threatening.

The girl that Franziska knew to be Maya Fey still looked absolutely dumbfounded. So much, in fact, that the prosecutor couldn't help but feel distraught. There was no strangest thing than having to look at herself- no, having to look at _Maya _-when she bore such a stupid expression.

Do I really look that foolish when I'm surprised? Franziska von Karma was wondering.

"You know I can't. I don't even know how this could have happened." The blue-haired girl replied, causing Franziska to grit her teeth both in annoyance and in frustration at hearing her very personal voice being used by a stranger.

"I asked you to call my father! Not to steal my perfect body!"

"Hey! You stole my body, too!" Maya immediately replied.

Franziska winced at the childish retort.

"Believe me, you incompetent fool. I can't wait to get rid of that foolishly dwarfish anatomy of yours."

Maya glowered in response, and von Karma suddenly got a good glimpse of what she must have looked like when staring at some unfortunate defense attorney. She was still pondering over whether or not she should take the risk to damage her unblemished skin by giving Maya a whiplash when someone knocked at the door.

"Mystic Maya? Ms. von Karma?" A childish voice called.

"P-Pearly?"

In the blink of an eye, Franziska leapt on the scatterbrain, covering her mouth with her gloved hand.

"Shut up, you fool!" She breathed in her captive's ear.

She then cleared up her throat and put on her most sugary voice.

"We shall arrive soon, Pearl F-"

She broke off as Maya nudged her in the ribs. The only thing that kept her from using the little girl's full name. _Bad habits die hard, _whispered a voice in the back of her head that sounded irritatingly like Miles Edgeworth.

"Okay."

Once she was sure that the little girl had gone away, she released her grip on the other 'her', in other words- the flabbergasted Maya.

"You must be stupid." She said viciously. "You almost gave us away! I'm sure that this little girl must suspect something."

"Aren't you just being the slightest bit paranoid?" The spirit medium protested, then held a pensive hand to her chin. "You know… The truth will come out, eventually. Wouldn't it be less trouble if we told everyone right away?"

"Get real, Maya Fey." The prosecutor snapped. "We might as well go and sign ourselves into the nearest psychiatric facility…"

"Nick would understand… I guess?"

Franziska made a face.

"Can you think of a better solution?"

"No, but I suggest we keep the whole thing a secret. Until I find a way to fix what you've done, that is…"

* * *

A few squabbles and swapped clothes later, the two girls finally emerged from the channeling chamber, each trying their best to adjust to their new outfit… and newfound personality.

However, fate wasn't so kind as they walked straight into an over-excited Pearl Fey.

"Mystic Maya!" The little girl chirruped happily and leapt in Franziska's arms.

The young prodigy, completely unused to such display of affection, was all but expecting this. She lost her balance, falling backward on the wooden floor.

Spread on her back in the middle of the Meditation Room, with Maya looking down at her with an all too familiar smirk (her own smirk!), with Pearl Fey hovering over her with a worried look on her face, Franziska thought that the situation couldn't get any more embarrassing. Of course, that was until _he _arrived.

"Ah, Maya, Ms. von Karma, there you are!" Exclaimed the voice she loathed.

"Hmph…"

"Mystic Maya, are you okay?" Little Pearl squealed.

Maya let out a cocky snicker that earned her an outraged look from her unknowing cousin.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Franziska finally answered.

Pearl gave her a peck on the cheek and then she was- finally- allowed back on her feet.

Wright was standing there, with his hands in his pockets, looking blatantly unconcerned. However, Franziska did notice the nervous look he threw at Maya. She felt a sudden rush of satisfaction in seeing that she still inspired fear and respect in her rival.

What she didn't understand was why the little medium suddenly threw herself at the spiky-haired lawyer and slapped him, seemingly for no reason.

"You are such a rude man, Mr. Nick! How could you stay there doing nothing while Mystic Maya was fallen on the floor?"

Maya suddenly looked ill-at-ease and Franziska watched her own ordinary pale cheeks turn to a rosy shade, something that never occurred when she was master in her own body.

"You must always help your special someone!"  
_Special someone? _

It was at that exact moment that the dreadful realization dawned upon her. She stood there, horror-struck, until Maya spoke in an average imitation of the tone the German prosecutor usually took when addressing her rival.

"I…um… shall be going soon, Phoenix Wright." Franziska heard herself saying. "Maya Fey, can I have a word with you?"

* * *

Once the young spirit medium had shed light on her relationship with the defense attorney, Franziska felt slightly relieved.

At least, that meant that she had a chance to get away with it without having to _hug him_, or_ kiss him, _or anything as crassly physical. In her mind, the situation had gone from bleak to endurable.

After tearful goodbyes from little Pearl and promises to come back soon, Franziska and Wright finally took their leave. The prosecutor mechanically headed for the parking lot.

"_And__ don't forget, you're not allowed to fight!"_

Then, she suddenly realized that Maya didn't have a car. Which meant…

"Come on, now. We're gonna be late for the train."

* * *

After an hour spent in Phoenix Wright's presence, Franziska von Karma was on the verge of exploding. Not only did she feel naked without her leather gloves, awkward in her channeling robes, and generally speaking, awful in Maya's skin, she was also going through serious withdrawal. Her fingers were itching and she couldn't stop herself from continuously running a hand over her hip, vainly seeking the familiar shape of a whip that wasn't there.

During the first few miles, she had been hiding into a tiny bathroom, for even being locked into a shabby toilet seemed like an option if it could earn her a moment away from Phoenix Wright.

Unfortunately, it hadn't taken long for a fool to come hammering on the door, rousing her from her gloomy thoughts. Moments later, an angry train conductor had opened the door and grabbed her by the tail of her channeling robes. Of course, she hadn't been able to whip him but that hadn't meant that she had to let herself be manhandled without reacting.

"Do you have an idea of who I am?" She had snarled.

The man had laughed, an unfortunate reaction that had lead to Maya's hand making contact with his ruddy cheek, which had ultimately resulted in him yelling at her while brandishing a menacing ticket book.

The ultimate threat had forced her back into the compartment and straight into Wright's much too welcoming hands. Welcoming, that was, until he had seen the look on the conductor's face.

He had paid for the fine (Maya didn't have much money on her)- that he had managed to reduce to an affordable amount thanks to tricks and gimmicks Franziska judged unworthy of a true lawyer. She, for instance, wouldn't dream of stooping to that low of a level.

She had endured the reprimand that followed without so much as batting an eyelash, insisting that the man had deserved what had befallen him. Her unusual stubbornness had astonished the defense lawyer. When she had squarely refused to apologize, he had ended up retreating himself into a sulky silence.

No need to say that she had greeted this unexpected turn of event with immense satisfaction.

Unfortunately for Franziska, an hour, precisely, had passed and all was long since forgotten and forgiven. She found herself desperate for a way to shut him up… again. He wouldn't stop talking about his life, telling her about his problems, and confiding in her who couldn't have cared less. And she couldn't whip him. She would have wanted to put her mouth close to his ear and scream.

_Do I look like I care?__!_

She could imagine him jumping, wide-eyed, the shock painted all over his face. Maybe if she shouted loud enough, his spikes would even sag.

In the end, she refrained herself- After all, cheerful Maya Fey would never do something like that.

Meanwhile Phoenix Wright kept talking, oblivious to the nasty looks from the girl next to him. She was struggling with the frustration of not being able to act on her sadistic impulses when he finally noticed that something bizarre, to say the least, was happening to his assistant. He stopped in the middle of a sentence.

"What's wrong?"

She had to first chase a cloud of spontaneous -and unpleasant- replies just so she could get to the heart of the matter. She racked her brains in search of the answer to this particularly thorny question- What could Maya Fey possibly be upset about?

Then, a flash of inspiration struck. She wasn't called a prodigy for nothing. She knew.

"I'm hungry!" She stated triumphantly.

It was visibly a good guess, for Wright didn't insist, nor did he look surprised in the least.

"We'll grab some burgers on the way home, then." He simply stated.

"Peachy keen."

Luckily, he didn't see the grimace on Franziska's Maya-lookalike face.

* * *

Later that night, she found herself face to face with an unappealing meal- A greasy steak, withered salad leaves and slices of synthetic cheese. The whole lot was sandwiched between two pieces of rubbery bread and drenched in a questionable-looking sauce.

As she took her first bite and swallowed, Franziska von Karma reflected on the fickleness of fate. Just a few hours ago, she was a rich and brilliant prosecutor. Now, she found herself retrograded to the status of foolish assistant of an even more foolish defense lawyer. And, on top of that, forced to poison herself with hormone-treated beef.

For the umpteenth time since they had left Kurain Village, Phoenix Wright opened his mouth superfluously.

"I was thinking about von Karma…" He said without preamble.

Franziska immediately looked up, staring at him through the bangs that half-hid Maya's eyes. (If it were up to her, that infernal long hair would be a thing of the past.)

"I mean, did you see the look on her face right after the channeling?" Wright went on. "She was grinning like a Cheshire cat."

He paused to take of gulp of his drink.

"Looks like she really missed her father. Or…" He scratched his chin pensively. "She might be up to no good, that's a possibility too. What do you think, Maya?"

"…"

"M-Maya? Why are you looking at me like that?"


	2. The Fool and the Attorney

**-Chapter 2: The Fool and the Attorney-**

Maya played with the whip for a moment, admiring the way it uncoiled and whirled in the air. A cool, nippy autumn wind had risen, ruffling her blue hair and lifting the dead leaves from the ground.

She approached an old tree and, waving her arms around, tore off a few twigs with her new weapon. Ultimately, she ended up hitting herself across the shoulder.

Wincing in pain, she drew the dangerous toy to her and clumsily rolled it up into a shapeless ball. That had felt too much like a reminder of the stinging of Franziska von Karma's wrath to her taste and she was glad that the prosecutor wasn't here to see how she dealt with her favorite possession.

She let out a sigh and throwing a last look at Fey Manor, she set out for the nearby parking lot, wobbling on her high heels like a drunken woman.

* * *

The car was beautiful. Classy, shiny, pricy… Several words came to mind when describing Franziska's luxury Volkswagen but the one that stuck out the most in Maya's mind was simplistic- 'Wow'.

Unfortunately, no matter how eager she was to seat in the driver's leather seat, there remained a definite, immutable fact. And it was that Maya _couldn't_ drive.

Kurain Village was a frozen, timeless place and though a few cars could be spotted in the streets, they all belonged to the men who worked outside the village. It wouldn't have crossed Morgan's mind- when she was still the Master- to pay for Maya's driving lessons, and the same went for Nick, of course.

Her only experience of driving came down to having observed Mr. Edgeworth on the few occasions when he had given her and Phoenix a ride. She had watched his doings with interest, for he looked so cool behind the wheel that he seemed like a different person. Now, all she could remember was a few random gestures. Nervously, she sat in the car and buckled her seat-belt.

First, switch on the ignition. The engine hummed to life, awaiting direction. She eyed the gearbox nervously. There could be read different letters whose meaning she wasn't sure of. There was D, of course, probably like driving and R could only mean reverse, but what about P or N? The more she looked at the control panel, the less confident in her abilities she felt.

How she succeeded in driving off was a total mystery, even to herself. She pressed a button, pushed down a pedal, and the car sprang forward... completely out of her control. She managed to avoid the few trees that stood on her way by a hair's-breadth but couldn't turn in time. She screamed when the car left the road. The tires spun and dug holes into the soft earth as it slid down the embankment, before ending its unbridled race at the bottom of the small ditch. The bumper hit the muddy edge and the car came to a stop.

Maya's heart was pounding wildly and, though she was totally unharmed, she needed a few minutes to calm down and catch her breath. She was still trembling a little from the shock**. **That had been scary.

As soon as she came back to her senses, she cut the engine. There was no kidding herself. Even if she had been an experienced driver, the hope to get the car out of here on her own would have been nothing but a ludicrous fantasy.

What could she do now? The daylight was declining quickly and the sky had darkened to an ominous and foreboding black.

One look at the car's clock informed her that the last train had left half an hour ago. Furthermore, she couldn't afford to abandon the car like that anyway- Franziska would strangle her. Not that she would spare her life for all that**,** thought Maya an instant later, not after what she had done… She was doomed, plain and simple.

Teary-eyed, she resigned herself to leave the scene of the accident. Spending the night at Fey Manor seemed like the only viable option- She was officially a client, therefore a guest, and the channeling school always took its duty of hospitality very seriously.

For a moment, she considered taking the opportunity of telling everything to her young cousin, but Pearl's dislike for von Karma was no secret to her. Maya might persuade her to listen to her story but she knew better than to think that the little spirit medium would believe such a tale, directly out of the mouth of her enemy.

'_Get real, Maya Fey. We might as well go and sign ourselves into the nearest psychiatric facility…'_

The first drops of rain hit the windshield as Maya left the car. In the distance, lightening cracked and thunder rumbled. She hurried toward the Manor.

* * *

She slept badly that night - Her nightmares were filled with car crashes and hurricanes, and both Pearl and Franziska- who looked surprisingly like Mia- wanted to shove Maya into the trunk of Miles Edgeworth's convertible.

The next morning, she called for a tow-truck to help free the black cabriolet and tow it to the nearest garage.

The damages were troublesome but thankfully not too serious - a rearview mirror was broken and a front tire needed to be replaced. She hesitated between sighing in relief or in annoyance.

Meanwhile, the owner of the garage had got it into his head to strike up a conversation with her, and was presently boring her with endless chatter.

"Ah, yeah, let me tell you. You're not the only one that got problems last night, lady, believe me. Blame the bloody weather. Ask the people in Eggrock. The storm made a hell of a mess there! Got' mudslides everywhere. There's been a landslip on the railroad track. Not a train 'till next week. Damn rain, huh!"

Maya's attention was brutally drawn back to the man in front of her.

"What do you mean there is no train? But I _need _to go to Los Angeles!"

"Take your car, then!" He scoffed, then nonetheless let out a sympathetic sigh, straight afterward. "I'm sorry for you, ma'am, I truly am, but there's nothing I can do. You'll have to take a cab or wait for the car to be repaired."

Unfortunately for Maya, after she had paid for the tow-truck and the garage's allegedly reasonable bill, she had not enough cash to afford a cab. She could gather enough money for a train ticket, and that was the end of it.

Of course, she had all of Franziska's things in her possession, including her credit card, but the prosecutor hadn't told her the code, and Maya hadn't thought about asking her. The mass confusion of the day before had occulted all notions of practical wisdom in the two girls, and now she would have to pay the price for their silliness.

Maya was alone. She had no one to turn to. She knew none of Franziska's friends or even if the austere woman had any at all. The girl let out a little moan of distress. It had been less than a day since the body exchange and she was already discouraged by the loneliness of her new life.

She was precisely at this stage of thought when she realized that she had completely overlooked an important someone. There was indeed one person who cared very deeply about the young prosecutor, and that person Maya knew as well.

She dug into Franziska's purse and pulled out a blue cell phone.

* * *

"What I can't help but wonder is what induced you to drive here in the first place…" Miles Edgeworth commented. "The station is a ten-minute walk from Fey Manor. And the train is much faster, not to mention _safer_."

Maya agreed with him on this particular matter. Still, she also felt like pointing out that no matter how many problems the car had caused, it was indeed due to the train- or rather the lack of running trains- that she had been trapped in Kurain Village.

However he was less than pleased with having to drive all the way to Medium Valley and that was understandable. She ought to be grateful and put up with his grouching docilely.

Despite Edgeworth's somehow patronizing remarks about how incredibly forgetful it was of her to have both had an accident and forgotten her credit card in the same trip, the journey back to LA was rather enjoyable.

They arrived in town around sunset. Maya had dozed off, her head resting against the window when Miles's voice roused her from her dreamy state.

"Shall I offer you dinner to help you recover from your emotions?"

She looked at him and he smiled, one of his rare genuine smiles.

"There's an excellent French restaurant down the street. And there's also takeout service…"

"I dare hope that this restaurant of yours isn't called Très Bien though?"

* * *

The food was delicious and refined and very different of anything she had ever tasted before. It was a strange experience to associate with Mr. Edgeworth and even more so to have dinner with him.

She discovered a new facet to the prosecutor, which she had only caught brief glimpses of previously and she found it all very interesting.

She had never thought about what Edgeworth and Franziska's relationship could be like before and what she was finding out was surprisingly pleasant.

To tell that the two of them were close would have been exaggerated. She could always feel a polite distance in the man's attitude. But behind this impeccable façade of courtesy, a certain warmth was concealed. Edgeworth and Franziska loved each other. It was a tough, 'I-know-you're-better-than-that' sort of love, but it was there.

She had a nice evening. Admittedly, the atmosphere in the room was far from the perpetual buoyancy that characterized the time she spent with Nick, but there was friendliness, sometimes tinged with awkwardness on Edgeworth's part.

In the end, time flew past her and she was almost surprised when he stood up.

"It's getting late and I know too well how you loathe going to bed past midnight, without a work-related reason."

She could detect a hint of amused sarcasm in his voice. She frowned. What a bore! Franziska was such a granny.

He took his coat off the hook and handed her Franziska's.

"Ok, so, where are we going?"

"Excuse me?"

"At which hotel are you staying, Franziska?"

Her mouth opened imperceptibly. Actually, she hadn't the slightest idea of where the German prosecutor, and, therefore herself, was supposed to live.

"Hmm…I…"

He looked at her inquiringly.

"It's the…uh…" She said the first thing that came to her mind. "The Gatewater Imperial hotel!"

Edgeworth raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Really? You mean _that _hotel?"

She understood her mistake a second later. She could have said just any name. Why had she picked up this one? But it was too late to back up presently.

"Yes. As a matter of fact I do, Miles Edgeworth. Is that a problem with you?" She replied curtly. Now, that sounded like Franziska von Karma, she praised herself.

He was unperturbed.

"Naturally not. But I thought that after all that happened there… Well, I know for a fact that this would be the last place _I _would choose for myself to stay."

Truly. It was. She bit her lip.

"Past is past."

She could have said just any name, right… But the real problem was altogether different**. **Indeed, she had no reservation anywhere and she couldn't have afforded a simple motel room at the moment.

He opened the door and waited for her to step out into the cool night. She made as if to go out then changed her mind.

"Actually…Wouldn't it be better if I just stayed with you?"

Edgeworth's eyes reflected nothing but perplexity.

"You want to sleep here?"

"Yes, just for tonight. Can I stay and sleep with you?"

She was looking at him expectantly when she suddenly noticed something disturbing- Edgeworth was _blushing._

The realization fell upon her like a rock from the open sky, at the same time as a deep feeling of discomfort.

"No, no, no! It's not what you think. I swear. At all." She stammered. "I'm talking about t-the couch… Y-Your sofa!" She gestured toward the piece of furniture to emphasize her statement.

For an embarrassing moment, none of them could look at the other. It felt like a century to poor Maya, then Edgeworth broke the silence.

"You can sleep in the bedroom. I'll sleep on the couch."

They were both beet-red. Edgeworth was standing rooted to the spot**, **so she beat a hasty retreat into the corridor leading to the bedroom.

"Goodnight, M-Miles."

* * *

She left early the next morning so as not to have to face Miles Edgeworth. She needed to see Franziska urgently.

She had consulted the prosecutor's cell phone when she had woken up earlier and had found several calls in absence from a number she had instantly recognized as her own, as well as an angry message on the voicemail that ordered her to call back immediately**. **What a weird sensation it was to be lectured over the phone by your own self, she pondered as she walked toward the Wright & Co law offices.

She was a bit scared of what would happen when von Karma confronted her. Maya would have to tell her about what had become of her car, among other equally unfortunate things. She shuddered.


End file.
